It's a part of my history which my Mom would bring to light now and again. The fact that I was seventeen months old before I began to talk. Some precocious kids are computer literate these days, by the time they arrive at their seventeenth month. Not me. Seventeen months before I said my first words. My defense has always been that up until I was seventeen months I didn't feel I had anything really important to say. Whatever it was I said first, nobody recorded ... so chances are, even then I had nothing important to say! I wonder how old Jesus was before he spoke his first words.

The other night in Confirmation class, Karen Maulen talked with the students about her red letter edition of the New Testament, which means that everything Jesus says is written in red ink. Do you know how old Jesus was the first time red ink is used? Think about it for a moment. He was twelve. That gives it away for most people ... the time Jesus was twelve and his parents were looking for him and when they found him and asked where in the world he was, he replied in red letter language, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" This surely puzzled his parents; just as surely, God was well pleased. Now only Luke records that little vignette in the life of Jesus. In Matthew, Mark, and John there are no recorded words of Jesus until he gets wet behind the ears down by the Jordan.

Scholars call the Baptism of Jesus the beginning of his public ministry. In our text this morning are the very first red letter words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. John the Baptist is already engaged in a very public ministry. The big wigs of Jerusalem society, the shakers and the movers were flocking to the Jordan to have themselves cleansed from the sins that covered them like fine desert dust. Jesus had no sin. He was sin-less. John knew this and was reluctant to Baptize Jesus ... in fact, was ready to go in over his head himself. And thus speaks the Lord ... for the very first time. "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Since these are the very first words Jesus speaks in Matthew's Gospel ... they must be pretty important. And they are. The first words of his public ministry speak to what public ministry is all about: the fulfilling of all righteousness. First words - and lasting ones!

Baptism is like the proverbial onion ... with all sorts of layers of meaning. And you strip away the various layers until you get to the core. Baptism is a symbolic cleansing, a washing away of the stain of sin ... a reversal of the original sin of Adam and Eve. Baptism is a drowning of our old self ... so that a new Spirit-filled child of God comes forth from the water. Baptism is dying. Under the water we go to our grave ... sharing in the death of Jesus. Out of the water we emerge to new life ... sharing in his resurrection. And then this: "it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Baptism is a preparation to do the right thing, our ordination for public ministry.

Like Jesus that public ministry may not occur until we are thirty. But, for the Christian, it does occur. And I know some youngsters aged twelve and under, who already do a pretty neat job of proclaiming the Gospel in one way of another. The first red letter words of Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, "it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus down in the water, getting his feet wet, so to speak, and uttering words of obedience. Standing knee deep in the Jordan with the rest of us sinners - even though he himself was without sin. No wonder God proclaims from the clouds, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." The fulfilling of righteousness is well pleasing to God.

Baptism means being ordained, set apart by God, to do righteousness. Our text from Isaiah this morning is often linked to the Baptism of Jesus, "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.... He will faithfully bring forth justice." And the prophet concludes, "I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you." God takes us by the hand in Baptism ... and leads us into lives of serving others. Our lives are not meant to be lived in private isolation, but rather in public service.

Yesterday in Atlanta I did something that I seldom do ... I officiated at a Baptism in a small chapel of a large church ... with only about forty people present. Our Bishop might not be happy with me, because in our Lutheran tradition, Baptism is to be a very public act, taking place in the midst of the assembly at worship. Lutherans feel that since Baptism is preparation for public service - if you will - public ministry, it is only fitting it should take place in public.

One of the most public Baptisms I've ever heard about took place down county a few years ago. I shared this story before, but it's such a good one it deserves to be shared again. When Pastor Chris Mietlowski served Dobbs Ferry Lutheran Church, he officiated at the Baptism of Eric and he did what most pastors do, with his thumb he traced the sign of the cross on the forehead of little Eric. Chris dipped his thumb in a special oil used for such things as he said, "Eric, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked with the Cross of Christ forever." All went well at the font.

Following worship, Eric's family celebrated with a big backyard party. Family and friends ate burgers and chips and played volleyball under a summer sun, and just enjoyed their time together. Eric, being only six months and all, was left to nap in his backyard stroller. When Mom got him up, whoops. On Eric's forehead, for all the world to see, the image of the cross. Mom had forgotten to wash the baby's face, and the oil acted the opposite of a sun screen. The Cross of Christ was basted on Eric's forehead. For several weeks until it completely disappeared ... that cross was a wonderful reminder as to the meaning of Baptism and a reminder that the Cross of Jesus was "written" upon Eric's forehead. And what a powerful witness. Eric's Mom and Dad had to explain the cross to the pediatrician, to the neighbors, to the stranger in the grocery store. For a few weeks, Eric was nothing less than a children's sermon. It was only a mild sun burn to be sure, but the best basting a child can have - to be marked with the cross of Christ!

Whether visible or not, that cross upon the foreheads of we who have been Baptized, is a silent reminder that we are called to public service ... serving others in the name of Jesus. Those times when we are on top of our game ... surely Jesus our God would echo these red letter words, "You are my sisters; you are my brothers: in you I am well-pleased."